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"They're exhausted from all the calls, we're averaging three calls a day, for a small department, that's pretty bad," Assistant Fire Chief Todd Fitzpatrick said. "The shortage of volunteers is nationwide ... everybody's hurting.”

Last year, the department ran 466 calls with only 18 firefighters.

"All of the small communities around here are hurting so if you have time, please come volunteer," Chief Fitzpatrick said.

Officials attribute the decrease in volunteers to the required six months of training and medical certification, but can’t say for sure why so many volunteers are leaving.

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